THE AGRICULTURAL STATE FAIR, HELD IN ALTON,
SEPTEMBER 30 - OCTOBER 3, 1856

(The Fair was held on Danforth Street, on what
now are the grounds of the Ursuline Convent.)

DESCRIPTION OF THE FAIR GROUNDS

Source: Alton Weekly Courier, May 29,
1856

We have been furnished by J. A. Miller,
architect, of this city, who has been employed to lay off the
grounds on which the next exhibition of the Illinois State
Agricultural Society is to be held, with a statement of the
arrangements which he has decided to submit to the parties having in
charge the preparation of the Fair Grounds. The plan shows
originality on the part of Mr. Miller, and a clear conception of the
probable difficulties to be guarded against. The following is the
plan as we understand it:

The carriage entrance to the fair
grounds is about a mile from the foot of State street (the river),
between the Farmer's Home and F. H. Hawley's place, entering from
the east. Pedestrians will leave the main road at a point near A. L.
Chouteau's residence, and enter the ground from the South. The
ground enclosed measures twenty-five eighty-five one-hundredth
acres, eleven of which are cleared, and the remainder comfortably
shaded by trees.

Visitors is carriages, soon after
entering the grounds, will pass the business office, twenty-five by
sixty feet; thence by a curve, in the track, they reach the main
exhibition building, having the form of a cross; the floral hall
constitutes the north end, one hundred by forty feet - a vestibule
twenty by forty feet on the east, and on the south, a hall for the
exhibition of fruits one hundred by forty feet; on the west, the
room for musical instruments and articles of that class, while the
centre room is an octagon sixty feet in diameter, with a sky-light,
for the exhibition of paintings, drawings, &c. The arrangement of
this department is such that visitors will enter at one door, pass
along and view all the objects in the various rooms, and pass out at
another door. This building will represent the rural style of
architecture.

Leaving this hall and passing along the
main road, through a shaded portion of the grounds, the visitor
arrives before a large refreshment hall on a pretty, level ridge,
near the south side of the enclosure; passing on, he arrives at a
point opposite the entrance and exit gates of pedestrians, west of
which the stalls commence, being built against the enclosure. The
first fifty stalls are close; next come two hundred open stalls, but
with a roof. These stalls form the west side of the exhibition,
along which the road passes toward the north. On this side is the
large shed under which machines and a steam engine for driving them
are placed.

Moving along the curve, the pens for
sheep and swine are passed. Reaching the eastern end of the ground,
the source of the track is changed westwardly and alongside the
stalls for poultry. Following the same direction, the building where
textile fabrics are exhibited comes next to view; which, when
disposed of, is dismissed for an examination of the show circles,
having a diameter of four hundred feet; passing around the western
line of this circle, the path leads by the shed for the exhibition
of various manufactures, as tools, stoves, cabinet ware, &c., &c.
Thence the road passes between the large circle and a tent
forty-five by ninety feet for the exhibition of dairy and kitchen
garden products - following the circle, the road passes by the west
side of the main exhibition building - thence eastward through a
shaded part of the ground, the road brings the visitor to the exit
gate, a short distance from the entrance. Thus the visitor, by the
carriage road, has traversed a line of one and three-fourth miles,
without having crossed his track or touched the same point twice.

The carriages will be kept moving from
the time of their entrance, and all on one track, so that there will
be no confusion - no turning out or strife for precedence. All enter
at one and the same gate, follow in their turn, the same track, and
make their exit at another gate, and in the same order as they
entered.

There will be on the grounds ten
refreshment stands, one large refreshment hall, police office,
business office, three gate offices, one main hall, three buildings
for manufactures, one tent, fifty stalls, ten by twelve feet - two
hundred stalls, eight by ten feet, one hundred pens eight by ten
feet, eight hundred feet of two-story poultry houses, and six wells.

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PREPARATION FOR THE FAIR GROUNDS
PROGRESSING

Source: Alton Weekly Courier, July 31,
1856

The preparations for the State Fair are
progressing rapidly. The grounds are now enclosed with the exception
of the East side. Three wells have been dug, and there is a
plentiful supply of water in them. Three more will be dug - one of
them to be eight ft. in diameter. There is also on the ground a fine
spring, so that there will be no lack of pure water. The lumber for
the stalls and offices and stands is on the ground, and the workmen
will commence in a few days to build them. The undergrowth is nearly
cleared out, so that the grounds now afford the prettiest drive to
be found in this vicinity. The manner in which the grounds have been
laid off shows a capacity to combine convenience and beauty, which
does great credit to Mr. Miller, to whom this delicate work has been
assigned.

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THE STATE FAIR

Source: Alton Weekly Courier, August 21,
1856

Manifestations are abroad which indicate
the approach of some unusual event. The corner walls have been
gratuitously papered with figures of immense deeds of daring
horsemanship; of brave poising on the slack rope, high from the
surface of the earth; with all the other objects of gaping wonder,
which a Barnum could conceive. Hotel keepers are fortifying with
alacrity, their cellars and their lerders [sic], and the addition to
the Alton House is progressing with a commendable rapidity. This
House, when completed, will present from the river an imposing
front, excelled by none upon its banks. Our hosts of the Alton,
Franklin, Piasa, Miller, Waverly and other Houses, are exerting
their large energies to have provided all the good things and good
places, which their utmost limits will permit. The Gas Company, with
its regiment of employees, is doing a wholesale business at pipe
laying, and their subterranean researches are destined to throw a
glaring light upon the subject of dark streets. We are pleased to
observe that an effort is being made to obtain the exhibition of
fireworks on each evening of the days of the Fair, in order to add
to the gratification of our visitors; also that it is proposed to
erect flagstaffs on the highest points of the two bluffs, and to
extend from one to the other, a line of some one thousand six
hundred feet in length, on which will be suspended at intervals,
long streamers, which will float one hundred feet or more above the
highest buildings, thus forming a grand, beautiful and heretofore
unseen spectacle. These, with other projects, prove that our
citizens are anxious to provide for their visitors a happy Fair.

Starting off, at the invitation of Mr.
Miller, the Superintendent, to view the Fair Grounds, we observed,
on reaching the Semple heights, a long red streamer gaily exhibiting
its proportions above the trees, and that was for the time, our
polar star. Upon a nearer approach, we discovered that a high and
extended board fence enclosed an apparently impenetrable growth of
trees; but on entering through a broad gateway, the enclosure, we
found ourselves within a "love of a place."
Notwithstanding the thickness of the growth of trees, winding roads
and paths brought every road of ground within close view. It would
seem that nature formed this spot, in the gross, for the express
purpose of holding Fairs, the hand of taste having given the
finishing strokes, so as to conform to modern style.

We found the various buildings in
process of erection, six wells dug, and containing in this
extraordinary time of drouth, a goodly supply of water. Toward the
western side of the enclosure the circular race track was found to
be plowed and conditioned for its office. The grounds are
sufficiently undulating to remove monotony, but every point is easy
of access, and when the arrangements and buildings are completed, no
doubt the visitor will be unable to determine whether the
Institution was made for the place, or the place for the
Institution, so complete will be the combined whole.

We trust the weather will be at summer
temperature, when the Fair occurs, so that the beauty and luxury of
the grove may be duly appreciated, and we opine those visitors who
make the tour of the grounds in carriages will be constrained to
re-tour on foot, so as to court the umbrage of the little oaks.

We read that while Adam was yet in the
Edenic garden, the beasts and fowls came together to him to receive
their names. Then and there must have been a grand and beautiful
exhibition. The next exhibition of a similar kind, in degree, will
be that of the Fair, five thousand eight hundred and sixty years
subsequent to the Adamic event; and we do not hesitate to assume
that in perfection of getting up, both in the department of nature
and of art, the Illinois State Show will suffer but small when
compared with the great first exhibition.

The preparation of the grounds has
involved a very large expense, and our citizens have given
liberally, but more is yet needed, and if any have not been called
upon for subscriptions, they may lend their aid by calling upon
Capt. Post, who, we presume, is in possession of the lists. We
believe the whole thing will be done up in a manner creditable to
all whose liberality has placed and kept the object in motion.

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ALTON'S STATE FAIR UNEQUALED

Source: Alton Weekly Courier, August 28,
1856

The time for holding the farmer's
jubilee is fast approaching, and it is time that the notes of
preparation should be heard from one end to the other of our noble
prairie State. The approaching State Fair, unlike former ones, has
been thrown open to competition from other States, and it is very
important that the attainments of our own State, in agriculture,
mechanics, manufactures, stock breeding, and everything that helps
to constitute her wealth and her present and prospective greatness,
should be fairly and fully represented.

As we are engaged in a political canvass
unequaled in importance and excitement in the history of our
country, there is danger that the State Fair may be overlooked and
neglected by the editorial fraternity, and as a consequence, by the
masses of the people throughout the State. We hope the press will at
once utter a rallying cry, long and loud, for the State Fair. But
six weeks of time remains for preparation, and what is done must be
done quickly. The State Fair of last year was highly creditable to
the State, but during the year great progress has been made in every
department of business, and the exhibition of this year should make
that progress apparent. The opportunity to make a fine show for the
State was never better, in some respects, never equal to that of
this year. A better field for an exhibition can hardly be found in
the Union than that which has been selected. In the arrangement of
the show ground, most excellent taste and judgment are manifest. The
location of the Fair at Alton secures the best and most numerous
facilities for access from the interior of this and surrounding
States; and there is no reason why every department of industry
should not be fully represented. No arrangement has ever been made
so well calculated to show to the various sections of Illinois what
she is in all the great industrial arts as the institution of the
State Fair, and nothing contributes so much to stimulate her
industry and develop her gigantic resources. Through this channel we
can effectually secure the attention of men of enterprise and
capital throughout the world to this garden of creation; and it is
to emigration that we look with most anxiety for the muscle and the
mind to unlock the untold treasures of our prairie soil. No field is
more inviting to the emigrant in search of a productive field of
labor than Illinois. To thousands upon thousands of unoccupied
acres, the great arteries of commerce - lines of railroad - are
already constructed, and Illinois today invites the established
institutions of an old State to the grand inducement of a new State
- unoccupied lands. It will be a great advantage to us, in the
increase of State wealth and industrial strength, to have these
lands improved. Let us, then, through our State Fair, show to the
world that we are an enterprising agricultural people, and
enterprising agricultural people from all parts of the world will
make haste to join us, in accordance with the old maxim, "birds of a
feather flock together." We hope the farmers of the State will wake
up to the importance of being out in their strength to the State
Fair, that they may not be surpassed by adjoining States. Every man
can do something to add to aggregate stock on exhibition; if every
mechanic should present a specimen of his handiwork, and the ladies
can do very much to aid in the exhibition. If every department of
industry in our State is fairly represented, we shall have an
exhibition never before equaled in the Union.

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ALTON CITIZENS URGED TO COMPETE IN STATE
FAIR

Source: Alton Weekly Courier, September
11, 1856

The time for the State Fair is fast
approaching. But little more than three weeks remain for
preparation. The Fair opens on the 30th inst. The signs of
preparation are given at our hotels and boarding houses. Our people
are to some extent awake to the fact that they will be called upon
to entertain a large number of people, by far the largest number
ever before congregated in the city. Politicians throughout the
country are awake to the importance of the opportunity of driving
their trade. The Fair Grounds are in a state of forwardness, but
what is being done in our city and vicinity to secure for us a fair
representation in agriculture, in horticulture, in stock growing, in
manufactures, and in the mechanic arts? We hope our people will
consider and act promptly in this matter. If Alton is well
represented in her manufactures and other departments of labor,
there need be no fear but our part of the great exhibition will be
creditable to us, for though St. Louis and the whole country are
invited to compete with us, we have this great advantage over all -
the exhibition is within our own limits, and we have neither to
travel or transport our goods to make up our part of the show. We
have no reason to borrow trouble about our ability to accommodate
visitors. This matter involves too many opportunities for money
making to be overlooked. But there is danger that we shall, in the
excitement of the occasion, neglect to prepare for a fair
representation of our industry and enterprise. In the departments of
agriculture and stock, we depend upon the surrounding counties to
vindicate the energy and enterprise of the population in this part
of the State. In this connection it gives us pleasure to state that
Greene county is preparing to be fully represented in stock, and
will come to the Fair with a strong expectation of carrying off a
large number of cups and diplomas, and we have good reason to
believe from what we have seen and heard of her stock, that her
hard-handed yeomen will not be disappointed in their expectations.
We expect, also, to hear from Jersey, Macoupin, Montgomery, St.
Clair, and other counties in this region in this behalf.

In manufactures, much will depend upon
our city to vindicate the skill and enterprise of this part of the
State. We hope every foundry, machine shop, and manufactory will be
fully represented. Alton should also show her hand in horticulture.
Our artists, architects and mechanics of every class can do
something. There will also be a department for the exhibition of the
ladies' handiwork, and we hope to see a laudable emulation among the
ladies of our city, to secure the honors to be awarded to their
skill and industry. In short, let all classes of our citizens awake
to the importance of placing on exhibition everything possible, that
is creditable to the industry of our city, and we may be sure of
honorable mention at least. Let every citizen ask himself what can I
do to add to the credit of the city in this exhibition, and when he
has solved the question, let him act upon the discovery as a sacred
duty, which he owes to the public.

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PICNIC AT THE STATE FAIR GROUNDS

Source: Alton Weekly Courier, September
19, 1856

On Wednesday last, at the State Fair
grounds, one of these most pleasant of all social gatherings came
off, and was attended by about four hundred persons, including
children. The day was one of the finest; the ground for such a
purpose unsurpassed, and the ladies who got it up and took the
charge had omitted nothing that was calculated to make the occasion
a delightful one to all present. The grounds are really beautiful,
and when all the buildings are finished, will make the finest place
for the holding of a fair there is in the country. This picnic was
no select affair, merely got up to give lovers a long sitting in
seclusion. The young, the middle aged and the old were there
enjoying themselves, and one young gentleman, curious in such
matters, counted fifty-two children, including one pair of twins, of
which number twenty-seven were curly-heads, and the balance wore
their hair straight - so he said. Previous to the dinner, the
company enjoyed themselves viewing the different buildings and the
arrangement of the ground. At three o'clock dinner was announced,
and such a dinner! Everything was good and in great abundance, and
was relished by all present. After dinner, the young folks were
delighted to discover there was a good string band on hand, and
forthwith they betook themselves to dancing on the platform,
erected, upon which piano fortes for exhibition are to be placed.
The others looked on, or scattered themselves in parties on the
grounds.

During the afternoon, there was some
good trotting and running on the track, while some of the boys
imitated the performances of the last circus. Thus passed the
afternoon. About half past six o'clock the signs betokened a shower.
Those who had carriages on the ground took their departure, and
those who remained looked up at the sky uneasily. The omnibuses had
not arrived, and the aspect of the heavens looked more and more
threatening. Presently a few large drops fell, and was followed by a
simultaneous rush for the high road leading home. A panic had seized
on all. A few more drops of rain, with a gust of wind, converted a
rather orderly retreat into a rout, and as the rain fell faster, and
the wind howled through the trees, the struggle to reach a shelter
induced some of the best specimens of pedestrianism, both male and
female, we ever saw. Thoroughly exhausted, the crowd finally reached
a shed, put up by Mr. Wendt, into which they rushed. Several
children were lost for a time, some new bonnets injured, and some
dresses soiled, but no other damage done, excepting a slight injury
to our handsome friend, the architect, who got his right eye hurt
while endeavoring to prevent a young lady from being blowed [sic]
away, the wind having completely inflated her dress, which she could
not control on account of some monstrous hoops. The vehicles soon
afterwards arrived, and all got home in safety.

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STATE FAIR DINING SALOON

Source: Alton Weekly Courier, September
19, 1856

Messrs. Walters and Pratt have rented
that portion of the State Fair Grounds, designated for a dining
saloon, and are making all the necessary arrangements to render that
point in very many respects the most attractive and desirable on the
grounds. Everything good for food and drink, and not prohibited by
the rules of the society, have been or will be laid in abundance;
and the services of superior cooks have been secured, to prepare
refreshments in such a manner as to render them wholesome and
palatable. One prominent design of the proprietors of this saloon
will be to furnish board for exhibitors and stock hands, who find it
necessary to remain on the grounds. This movement shows enterprise,
and we believe its projectors will reap a golden reward.

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STATE FAIR - DAY IS NEARING

Source: Alton Weekly Courier, September
19, 1856

The notes of preparation are more
frequent as the time for holding the State Fair approaches. The
dealers in provisions seem to regard it as the opportunity of the
year, and every want of the expected masses is anticipated to the
fullest extent. The opportunity for competition from other States in
the exhibition is likely to be well improved. A manufacturer of
machinery is now here from Philadelphia, and he states that others
will be in attendance from that city and various portions of the
East. St. Louis, we learn, will be largely represented, and other
points of Missouri will enter the lists. Kentucky, Indiana, Iowa,
Wisconsin, Michigan, and other States will no doubt be represented.
The number of awards of all kinds to be made on the occasion will
not be less than twelve thousand. We are informed by men who have
occasion to travel for the purpose of making arrangements for the
Fair, that the people throughout the State are awake to the
importance of this exhibition, and that they will be out in their
strength.

The Executive Committee will open their
office in the building on the corner of Belle and Third streets,
west side, on the 15th, Monday next, from which time until
arrangements are completed for exhibition, entries may be made.
Several gentlemen are now in town with machines and various
inventions, prospecting for a good chance at the Fair.

Nearly all the public halls in town have
been engaged, to be occupied for lodging purposes during the Fair,
and some of them have been, and are being already fitted up. The
Illinois Farmer, an agricultural paper, published at
Springfield, says: "Our friends at Alton will have their hospitality
tried to the utmost to accommodate the vast crowds which will be in
attendance, but we are assured that means will be provided to meet
the demands of the occasion. Alton never was behind when a call was
made upon her generosity or hospitality." Let our people see
to it, that the reputation so generously given is well sustained.

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STATE FAIR - A JUBILEE OF INDUSTRY

Source: Alton Weekly Courier, September
19, 1856

Something more on this subject may not
be amiss. Each fair of the Illinois State Agricultural Society has
been better than the one preceding it. The fair at Chicago last year
got up while the society was but three years old, and with an empty
treasury, was equal to any State Fair ever held, while it far
exceeded those of many older and wealthier societies. The Executive
Board of our Society is determined that there shall be no going
backward in the coming fair at Alton, which is intended to be a
grand exposition of the products of Labor and Art; not only of
Illinois, but of the whole Mississippi Valley. For, our liberal
premium list of over $7,000 is open to all, and we may expect the
competition of the farmers, stock-growers, mechanics, and artists of
neighboring states with those of our own. The manufacturers of the
two great cities, Chicago and St. Louis, will here be pitted against
each other, and all will do their best; while Illinois stock-growers
will turn out to support their well earned reputation. Preparations
are made on a grand scale, for the proper exhibition of everything.
The Fair Grounds, situated only one mile from the city and easy of
access, comprise twenty-five acres of fine grove and open sod,
abundantly watered by a good spring and six wells. These grounds
have been laid out, and the structures erected, under the direction
of Mr. J. A. Miller - the architect of the Alton committee - with
great taste and judgment. The buildings are much larger and more
commodious than usual; consisting, first, of an immense "Palace of
Industry," built in the form of a cross, the center being a rotunda
80 feet in diameter, with glazed sky-lights (the artists will like
this), and tasteful arrangements throughout, for the exhibition of
the Fine Arts. The main body of the cross is 55 by 280 feet,
including the rotunda, with the limbs large in proportion - the
whole thus being equivalent to five ordinary structures of the kind.
Besides this, there are two substantial buildings, each 100 feet
long, for heavy implements, textile fabrics, &c.; and another
building of the same length, for motive power and machinery, with
the society's tent for kitchen, garden and dairy products. There are
250 stalls for cattle, horses, &c., of a much better character than
usual, each being 81/2 feet; with 100 large pens for sheep and
swine, and abundant accommodations for poultry, &c. There are also
plenty of offices, a dining hall, 50 by 300 feet, with 12
refreshment stalls, &c.

Ample provision is made for the feeding
and lodging of visitors to the Fair. The hotels of the city, besides
their own excellent accommodations, have provided several large
steamboats to be moored at the wharf in close proximity - the
charges of all being fixed by agreement with the Society. And then
the people of Alton will throw open their doors - while St. Louis is
close at hand, and boats and railroad will take visitors down at
night, and return them in the morning, at prices which competition
will be sure to make moderate. Highly satisfactory arrangements have
been made with the railroads. Visitors to the Fair are to be charged
one way only, being passed back free, on having their railroad
tickets stamped by the Recording Secretary on the Fair grounds.
Animals and articles for exhibition go free both ways; in freight
being charged, but again refunded on the return of articles, with
our certificate. It is also understood that steamboats on the
Illinois and Mississippi rivers will carry at greatly reduced rates
- though I am not yet informed of the terms of agreement made with
them, by our Vice President, Col. Ross.

Let all come to this Jubilee of
Industry. Few, if any that do, will ever regret it. More can be
learned here in four days of the productions and resources of our
glorious Prairie State, and some of her sisters, than could be in a
month spent in traveling. John A. Kennicott, Cor. Sec. Ill.
State Ag. Society.

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THE FAIR SONG

Source: Alton Weekly Courier, September
19, 1856

Welcome, welcome, with songs of joy,

Sweet music swells the breeze;

The loud hurrah for Illinois

Re-echoes from the trees.

Beside the river, rolling free,

Beneath the sky's bright blue,

We've met to let the people see

What Illinois can do!

The generous products of the fields,

Fair nature's bounty shows,

For benest labor surely yields,

Reward to him who sows.

While ripened harvest's golden hue,

Is seen on every hand;

Our hearts are turning, ever true

To peaceful homes beyond.

Away, away, the prairies green,

In boundless grandeur stretch;

No limit to the view is seen,

'Till earth and heaven are met.

Our cities, circled by the hills,

Stand firm in bright array;

And while with joy each besom thrills,

We hail this festal day.

America, proud freedom's home,

We fondly turn to thee;

And though in stranger lands we roam,

Our home thou still shalt be.

Long let thy peerless banner wave,

Above the billow's foam;

Long be the land of spirits, brave,

And long the freeman's home!

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PACKET ARRANGEMENTS DURING THE FAIR

Source: Alton Weekly Courier, September
25, 1856

The arrangements for running the packets
between this city and St. Louis during the State Fair will be found
in the advertising column. Four boats, the Reindeer, Baltimore,
Jennie Deans, and Winchester, will constitute the line, and each
boat will make two trips per day to St. Louis and return. Meals will
be furnished at all hours, on all these boats, and three of them
will remain at our Levee over night, to furnish sleeping
accommodation for such persons as may apply. A band of music will
accompany each boat, and strangers will find the packets pleasant
places for temporary abode.

We were on the Fair Grounds yesterday, a
few minutes, and were impressed more than ever by their beauty and
the ingenuity displayed, and the convenience secured in their
arrangement. The plan for displaying as by a grand panorama, to
assembled thousands, every article on the ground we believe has
never been equaled in this country. The arrangements for the comfort
of visitors to the grounds could not have been excelled. We noticed
that two or three tracts set apart for refreshment stands are yet to
be rented, and those who are fond of gathering nimble shillings
should not delay to apply for them ere the opportunity passes. We
also noticed that the road to the grounds, outside of the city
limits, needs repairing in two or three places, to allow teams to
pass with facility. A small sum, not exceeding $20, will remedy the
difficulty, and we hope there is public spirit enough in our people
in the city and vicinity to make the necessary repairs.

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RAILROAD ACCOMMODATIONS FOR THE FAIR

Source: Alton Weekly Courier, October 1,
1856

The Chicago, Alton and St. Louis
Railroad company will run a special train between Springfield and
Alton during the State Fair, to accommodate more fully people living
between and at these points. The train will commence on Tuesday
morning from Springfield, and end on Saturday night up from Alton.
It will leave Springfield at 6 o'clock and 15 minutes a.m., and
reach this city at 9 o'clock and 40 minutes a.m. Returning, it will
leave this city at 5 o'clock 15 minutes p.m., and reach Springfield
at 8 o'clock and 45 minutes p.m. This arrangement will be a great
convenience to the people on the line of the road, and entitles Mr.
Moore, the gentlemanly Superintendent, to the gratitude of the
farmers of Southern Illinois.

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ALTON HAD THE STATE FAIR FIFTY YEARS AGO
- INTERESTING REMINISCENCES BY DR. JAMES SQUIRE

Source: Alton Evening Telegraph,
September 11, 1906

From the Carrollton (Ill.) Patriot - Dr.
James Squire of this city [Carrollton] was a resident of Madison
county for a number of years, and well remembers many of the early
happenings in that county. He attended a state fair, held in Alton
in September 1856, which was one of the first state fairs held. In
describing some of the incidents connected with that fair, Dr.
Squire said:

"Col. Samuel Buckmaster was the general
superintendent. He was one of the leading men in that section, and
was at that time warden of the penitentiary at Alton. He gave to my
father, William Squire of Godfrey, the contract to supply all the
feed necessary for the livestock on exhibition. This required about
four loads of hay, of a ton each. Two loads were delivered in the
forenoon and two loads in the afternoon. And it wasn't baled hay,
either. I remember that my brother and I rode into the fair on the
loads of loose hay. In addition to this, two loads of corn were
delivered each day, and a load of oats, and that was all that was
needed to feed the stock of all kinds on exhibition there. My
mother, Mrs. Lydia Squire, received a medal as first premium on her
entry of ten pounds of butter. My brother, Heber Squire of Godfrey,
has the medal now to exhibit. Col. Buckmaster had the premium double
team of horses, called Dobbin and Robbin. They were sorrels, and
were considered quite speedy. The fastest time made by Robbin was
2:30 for a mile. He was the champion of the track, having been
brought from Ohio by Col. Buckmaster. My brother, Frank, now of
Godfrey, rode Robbin and took the first premium as the best boy
rider in the state. My father bought the premium wagon, which was
made at the penitentiary, for $125. Only four wagons were on
exhibition. The premium for the best plow was awarded after a
practical test of plowing a small patch on the fairgrounds. I held
the plow handles during a part of the exhibition. Daniel Miller of
Alton got the premium on his plow. One of the attractions, I
remember, was a pair of calves yoked together and drawing a wooden
sled around the quarter-mile track. The sled was loaded with boys.
On the last afternoon of the fair all premium animals paraded around
the ring. There were horses, cattle and sheep, and last of all was
the team of calves with a blue ribbon tied to the yoke. There wasn't
too much rush and hurry and noise and excitement as there is at the
state fair these days, and there wasn't such a big crowd, but
everybody visited everybody else and had a good time."

****************************

50 YEARS AGO TODAY ALTON HAD STATE FAIR
- THIS WAS THE LAST DAY. DOUGLAS SPOKE

Source: Alton Evening Telegraph, October
2, 1906

Just fifty years ago today the last day
of the Illinois State Fair was held in the city of Alton. The city
was thronged with people from all over the state, says H. G. McPike,
who remembers it clearly. Mr. McPike says that the street near the
old St. Charles hotel was lined with wagons and conveyances of every
description, whose owners were shouting out the fact that they would
haul you out to the state fair grounds for ten cents. Most of the
wagons were farm wagons, with straw in them, and with boards placed
across for seats. The fair was held on the Peter Wise tract of
ground, now the Turner tract. Roadways had been marked off through
the trees, and scores of little tents and other temporary coverings
had been erected for the fair. The exhibits were mostly cattle,
chickens and farm machinery. Many of the exhibits were under the
trees in the grove separated by a rope being run around from tree to
tree to make an enclosure. Mr. McPike says he remembers well the
last day of the fair and the crowds that attended. Hundreds and
hundreds of horses and buggies and teams were tied along the roadway
on State street from the intersection of Main and State streets, out
to North Alton. These were the outfits of people who had driven to
Alton to see the fair, and many of them had driven no less than
fifty or sixty miles, for railroads were not so many or convenient
in that day. The principal speaker of the day was Stephen A.
Douglas, who made an address at the fairgrounds. Mr. Samuel Pitts of
the firm of Pitts & Hamill, says that he remembers well the last day
of the fair, but that his father's hotel, the old St. Charles house,
was doing such a rushing business that he could not find time to go
out to the fairgrounds. Mr. Pitts remembers that many celebrated
persons were here to attend the fair on that day, and that it must
have been a sort of round up of the politicians, not at all unlike
the political round ups at the state fair in this day. There are
many of Alton's older citizens who say that they attended the fair
on that day, but many do not remember any of the details. This
was the first and last time that Alton ever had the Illinois state
fair. A fight had been made for several years to bring it here, and
the fall of 1856 was Alton's turn. Joseph Brown was mayor of Alton
at the time, and was busy with the duties of receiving the
celebrated politicians and others of the state who came to the fair.
To the younger generations of men who are promoting Alton's
interests, this one event can be looked back upon as one of the
times a long time ago when there was something doing in Alton, when
all roads led toward Alton.

**********************************

MEDALS OF STATE FAIR FIFTY YEARS AGO

Source: Alton Evening Telegraph, October
3, 1906

Miss Wilhmina Trenchery has brought to
J. H. Booth two silver medals, which are said to be the only relics
of the old state fair held in Alton fifty years ago this week. The
two silver medals were awarded to Miss Trenchery's father, the late
Prof. Emil Trenchery, for the best exhibit of a piano and melodeon.
The medals recite on them what they are awarded for and to whom
awarded. Miss Trenchery also has a piano stool which was in that day
one of the most expensive stools Mr. Trenchery had in his stock. It
was used by Patti when she appeared in Alton. The medals and stool
are to be exhibited in the show window of the Booth store.

**************************************

WHEN STATE FAIR WAS HELD IN ALTON IN
1856
Source: Alton Evening Telegraph Centennial Edition, January 15,
1936, by George Leighty

It has been 80 years now since the citizens of Alton surrendered
themselves (with reservations to be sure, shrewd Northerners that
they were) to the lure of a State Fair. In this now mellow period of
the state's history, the assorted honorables in the state
legislature were of the habit of selling the privilege of holding
the annual State Fair to the city making the highest bid for that
honor, and in the year 1856 our earnest forbears dug down deep into
the pockets of their broadcloth pantaloons and brought the whole
works, lock, stock and barrel, to Alton. And the moment the
guardians of our political destiny said "go," the plans, which out
city's fathers had hastily formed and hung out to dry on thin
threads of hope, were snatched down from the line, washed out again,
and put into execution. The lid was off! St. Louis would soon be a
mere suburb of Alton, and they couldn't help it because some people
had been simple-minded enough to put good money in Chicago real
estate. All they ever had needed was a chance to do their stuff
before the world, anyhow, and here it was.

Next to the spirit of panic, the most infectious mood in the world
is that which descends upon the human race at the prospect of having
a good time, and when such prospect is augmented by the desirable
end of making a pretty penny for everybody concerned, the method in
the madness of those people of 1856, who worked like troopers all
that summer and fall, to make Alton's State Fair a success, can
readily be seen. The spirit of the mardi gras could (and must!) be
made to foam up and overflow the whole scene - elephants, Bengal
tigers, and all the birds and beasts of the jungle, strange and
rare, ferris wheels, merry-go-rounds, and calliopes, they could (and
must!) have - but though bedlam would be allowed to wax thick on the
surface, underneath the antics of the flying acrobats, the true
lines of battle must be drawn, and never lost sight of - even for an
instant.

If black-coated industrialists in the East were to be enticed here
to exhibit their products, and ultimately locate their factories; if
men of means and a mercantile flair were to come, see and smile upon
our rugged hills; if hickory-shirted farmers were to be allowed to
demonstrate beyond question the superior fertility of the Illinois
soil; if steamboat men from New Orleans, Memphis, Louisville, were
to behold in proper relief the convenient compatibility with which
the Mississippi river had been graciously located at the lower
terminal of three railroads; if, in short, the men who lived, worked
and believed in Alton were to put a crease in its Sunday pants and
pick the burrs out of it hair before Nov. 1, somebody had to get up
and move. No amount of hand-clapping would product a good genii to
transform on the instant the bluffs of the Mississippi into a
tinseled Baghdad for the gratification of strangers.

The first meeting of the Alton citizens to form a Fair Association
was held in April in the Alton fire house, on the corner of Market
and Second streets. Among those present at this meeting were: Col.
Buckmaster, superintendent of the penitentiary and local
representative of the power of the state of Illinois; Capt. Bruner,
steamboat man and designer of several of the fastest steamers ever
to ply the Mississippi; L. A. Parks, one of the founders of the
Telegraph; Dr. Hope, two-fisted ex-mayor; one Ezra Miller, a builder
and contractor of marked talent; and many others too numerous to
mention, but comprising to a man the leading property owners,
business and professional men of the town.

When the meeting came to the nearest approach of order it every
managed to attain, Col. Buckmaster, as much because of his dynamic
personality, as because of is political significance, was placed in
the chair. From this point, the colonel waved the stick over most of
the performance that was about to befall. Under his booming
leadership, sincere, albeit dreadfully wearisome, resolutions were
proposed, adopted and communicated in due order to persons,
organizations, corporations and companies, expressing an appeal for
them, one and all, to attend the Alton State Fair. Manifestos were
issued calling upon this or that excellency in Boston, Albany and
other capitals, to come on out and take a ringside seat whilst the
millennium began its descent upon the choicest portion of the Golden
Rod state. And Ezra Miller, our builder, was elected superintendent
of grounds and buildings. Upon his shoulders was placed the heavy
task of bringing order out of chaos. Somebody would have to go out
to the edge of the city, clear land, erect buildings suitable for
the occasion, and otherwise see to it that no steam engine
manufacturer arrived in Alton on the day of the fair, only to find
that he would be unable to rent appropriate space and shelter
wherein to demonstrate and exhibit his product. This task would be
Mr. Miller's.

But the Fair Association chose well. Considering the trials and
obstacles to be encountered by the man bearing the title,
"superintendent of buildings and grounds," any one of which would
have driven a less purposeful man to distraction - considering what
Mr. Miller had "to do with," he will ever remain Alton's miracle man
No. 1. He had to be his own landscape gardener, half the time he was
compelled to design the buildings he laid out and erected, and many
times, when it would be discovered that "another hundred" dollars
was needed before the preparations for the fair could go on, the
superintendent of grounds and buildings went boldly and grimly out
and raised the money among the business men of the town.

The fairgrounds were on what was at that time known as the "Hawley
tract" near Sempletown, between Alton and North Alton, near what is
now Danforth street. This vicinity, at the time Mr. Miller and his
associates arrived upon the scene, was virgin forest. The task of
clearing the place meant a great deal more than merely cutting
trees. Underbrush was as thick as grass and the whole mass - trees
and underbrush - were knotted together with grapevines and old ivy.
But by the last of September, with one month to go, except for the
gathering up of a few loose ends, Mr. Miller had accomplished his
purpose. All the underbrush and such of the large trees as suited
his purpose had been removed. The whole place, one-quarter of a mile
square, was intertwined with paths and roadways. A grand exhibition
hall, 200 feet long and 50 feet wide, to house the farm products
exhibit, had been build. Six wells had been dug at advantageous
points over the grounds. Numerous individuals exhibition halls had
been erected for the benefit of such manufacturers as might care to
use them. A veritable forest of small stands for refreshment vendors
had been built. Space had been provided for the great combination of
three circuses that was to come. A half mile race track had been
laid out, plowed and conditioned. Verily, Mr. Miller might now relax
and await the advent of the opening day. But not this Mr. Miller.
Work was yet to be done. Between two trees, above the gateway at the
entrance of the fairgrounds, he suspended a huge red banner, 50 feet
long and six feet wide. And not being satisfied with this
comparatively mild sample of advertising technique, he went to the
bluffs overlooking the river above the town, and erected two
well-braced pillars 25 feet high, 1600 feet apart. Between these two
pillars he suspended a wire (or cable, as it certainly must have
been), and from this, to whet the imagination of approaching
travelers, red, white and blue streamers were suspended. Mr. Miller
was one of Alton's first advertising experts.

While all these things were being accomplished under the direction
of Mr. Miller, it must not be supposed that other members of the
Fair Association were inactive. Numerous other projects were
simultaneously going on under the direction of others. Preparations
were made and every night the fair was in progress. The road leading
from the depots and the levee, out Belle street to the fairground,
was graded and given a heavy coat of McAdam. Arrangements were made
with various prospective exhibitors, and negotiations were carried
on with the three circuses that were to combine their shows for this
event. Those who had caught the spirit, and could find nothing
better to do, were busy doing a fancy job of beating the tom-toms.

In the penitentiary, Col. Buckmaster's prisoners were bending over
their part of the work. The carpenter shop inside the prison walls
turned out chairs, tables, window frames, etc., the blacksmith shop
turned out fancy iron gates, horseshoes, foot-scrapers, and the
tailor shop produced a number of high grade garments - all to be
placed on exhibition at the Fair, to increase the fame of Alton
abroad.

The strictly private enterprises of the town too, fermented with
preparatory activities. Our hosts, Mr. Pitts of the Franklin House,
Mr. Corson of the Alton House, and others holding forth for the
public's convenience at such respectable hostelries, as the Piasa
House, expanded their brand of business activity to its utmost
possibilities. The Franklin House was remodeled and on the day of
the fair sported such innovations as a specially constructed ladies'
entrance, a 10-by-10 lookout tower, from which point such steamboat
races, as might occur between arriving boats, could be witnessed in
ease and comfort, and approximately 175 feet of verandah, fitted out
with "numerous elegantly upholstered chairs for the comfortable
repose of guests." Delicious and monstrous supplies of food stuffs
were laid into the larders of every inn, and history offers us no
sign that might lead to believe that the colonels of Kentucky, who
attended the fair, were compelled to slake their delicate thirsts
with anything so mild as water - thanks again to our hosts.

During the Fair, special arrangements were made by the packet boats,
running between St. Louis and Alton, to handle the crowds coming
from points south and east. The steamers "Reindeer," "Baltimore,"
"Jennie Deans," and the "Winchester," (every boat of them quite as
luxurious and as large as any steamer on the river in this day of
electricity, 1936) each and all made two trips daily to and from St.
Louis for the duration of the Fair. Meals were served on board these
boats at all hours of the day and night, and "bands of music"
accompanied each boat on every trip. While the Fair was in progress,
three boats were tied up in the local harbor at nights, to provide
sleeping accommodations for such visitors as might care to use them.
All this required energetic preparation, as well as no small outlay
of money.

The Alton Gas Co., then in its infancy, took unto itself a regiment
of employees, and laid pipe to as many different points in the city
as was possible, before the Fair was to open. Street lamps were
provided at every corner of the business section and citizens, as
well as visitors, as it was written at the time, "could move from
place to place in our streets after dark with a facility hitherto
peculiar only to daylight."

By the time the opening day had arrived, the town had gone Fair
conscious. The roads leading to and from the fairgrounds had been
graded and put into first class shape, and the business section was
dressed in its holiday colors. The City Council had gone to the
extremity of ordering the city marshal to enforce an ordinance that
had been passed several years before making it a misdemeanor for one
to "permit hogs to roam at large in the business portion of the
city." What with Mr. Miller and his buildings and grounds, the
private and public citizens, and their own individual contributions
to the cause, the stage was set by Oct. 31, and many of the visitors
were already lodged at the various hostelries.

The first of November found the show going full blast. Eight times
that eventful day large "and commodious steamers" nosed up to the
wharf and unloaded swarming human cargo. Three times the trains of
the Alton & Sangamon Railroad (not counting the arrival of two
specials) wheezed up to the depot and discharged an aggregation of
men, women, and children. And over the roads leading from Calhoun,
Jersey and Macoupin counties, came an almost endless stream of
carriages, buggies and holt wagons. The Fair was on.

With the exception that the Fair buildings were constructed of wood,
inch boards up and down over a wood frame, instead of chromium over
a frame of steel; except that there was no sky ride and the Ferris
wheel and the merry-go-rounds were moved with steam instead of
electricity; except for a few of the extreme niceties of late modern
life, it cannot be said that the Alton State Fair of 1856 was much
different from fairs as they are held today ([1936]. The women had
their jelly and jam exhibits, and displayed unanswerable testimony
to their zeal at knitting, sewing, crocheting and other home arts,
including the manufacture of butter. For men and women alike, there
were the races. All races were by pacing horses, and at that time a
horse that could make the stretch in two and a half minutes was due
to have its portrait painted in oils, and hung in his owner's family
gallery. There was the great combined circus, which was probably
superior to most circuses of today [1936], the circus business
having gone the way of horse-car and other creeping things. The
shell game was undoubtedly worked, in the largely unsophisticated
crowds, with greater success than it had been worked before. And the
number of stands where one might try to win various objects of
doubtful value, simply by throwing balls at them for a price, was
great. There was no tractors or combines on exhibition, but
factories all over the state sent their products of mowing,
threshing, sewing and grain drying machines, to vie with each other
for supremacy in the minds of prospective buyers. At this time,
sewing machines were one of the main exhibits. Pianos were exhibited
in a hall with a floor suitable for dancing, and this means of
entertainment was one of the main sources of pleasure for the
visitors at the fair. From which I might be concluded, that fairs do
not change in tenor - they merely increase in volume.